Based on the US Department of Commerce’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel import permit applications for the month of May 2019 totaled 2,342,401 mt. This was a 10.4 percent decrease from the 2,614,143 mt in permits recorded in April and an 11.9 percent decrease from the 2,657,739 mt (census data) of steel imports in May 2018.
In May, steel products with the largest total steel import permits included blooms, billets and slab at a combined 632,238 mt; OCTG, at 190,765 mt; HDG, at 187,899 mt; line pipe, at 124,369 mt; CRC, at 114,159 mt; and rebar, at 113,649 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in May were Brazil (563,416 mt), Canada (299,048 mt), Korea (268,370 mt), Mexico (218,023 mt), and Japan (112,952 mt).